Home Office

Refugees: Children

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied and separated children have been (a) identified, (b) assessed and (c) transferred under sub-section 1 of section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are continuing to work closely with partners across Europe to identify unaccompanied asylum seeking children who may be eligible to come to the UK.The Government has transferred more than 750 children to the UK in support of the French operation to clear the Calais camp, including children who meet the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.The Dubs process has not ended. More eligible children will be transferred from Europe, in line with the terms of the Immigration Act, in the coming months. Following consultation with local authorities on capacity to host unaccompanied children, we will be announcing the specified number in due course.

Home Office: Work Experience

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unpaid internships there are in her Department.

Sarah Newton: The Department is an active participant in the Civil Service Summer Diversity Internship programme. This is a paid scheme and individuals normally remain with the Home Office for 9-10 weeks.The Department also provides a work experience programme for 15 - 18 year olds from diverse backgrounds. This is a cross Civil Service scheme working with Local Education Authorities and aimed at giving individuals a sense of what being a Civil Servant is like by placing them in the Civil Service for a week. This is unpaid and involves shadowing for a week.

Home Office: Travel

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on travel that was not standard class in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: Total spend on travel that was not standard class (£) is set out in the table below (this includes Eurostar Standard Premier):  2011-2012: 900,0002012-2013: 700,0002013-2014: 1,100,0002014-2015: 900,0002015-2016: 600,000

Home Office: Staff

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures her Department has in place to support those of its staff who have mental health problems.

Sarah Newton: In the Home Office we are committed to breaking down barriers and reducing stigma for those staff living with mental health conditions. We signed up to the Time to Change pledge in 2014 making a public commitment to be at the forefront of UK employers to tackle mental health issues in the workplace and we remain dedicated to ensuring mental health is a priority. Our specific initiatives are outlined in Annex 1.



Annex 1 - PQ 57127
(Word Document, 17.61 KB)

Vetting

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to (a) process a DBS application and either scan or return it to the applicant for amendments, (b) search the Police National Computer, (c) search the Children's Barred List where appropriate, (d) search the Adult's Barred list where appropriate, (e) search the records held by local police where appropriate and (f) print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to the applicant in (i) the UK and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 2012.

Sarah Newton: A high proportion of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) are submitted electronically, and do not need to be scanned or returned.Table 1 shows the average days taken for the DBS to scan paper applications onto the system, or return a paper application to the customer for amendments. This data is not available for the Yorkshire and Humber region. All data in Table 1 relates to the UK. Separate information for Yorkshire and the Humber region is not available.Table 2 shows the average days taken for the DBS to search the Police National Computer, police local records and print the document, for the United Kingdom.Table 3 shows the average days taken for DBS to search the Police National Computer, police local records and print the document for Yorkshire and Humber European electoral region.Checks of the children and adults barred lists are carried out in parallel to the local police checks and data on the average time taken to conduct these checks cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.



Annex Tables 1-3
(PDF Document, 65.46 KB)

Fraud: Prosecutions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful prosecutions have resulted from Economic Crime Command investigations in each year since 2013.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests the Economic Crime Command of the National Crime Agency has made in each year since 2013.

Mr Ben Wallace: The National Crime Agency does not break down the number of arrests by department (or National Crime Agency predecessors). Activity that leads to arrest and successful prosecution, is often the result of work undertaken by multiple units across the agency.

Proscribed Organisations

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what violent or terrorist far right or neo-Nazi groups are being monitored or considered for possible proscription as an illegal organisation.

Mr Ben Wallace: We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

Refugees: Children

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that any refugee children who were recently accommodated at Calais and who were entitled to come to the UK have not been trafficked, become domestic slaves or forced into prostitution.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We continue to work closely with local authorities, the Department for Education, the Local Government Association, non-governmental organisations, and other Government departments to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children transferred from France to the UK. The Government recently announced its intention to publish a Safeguarding Strategy which will bring together a number of strands of ongoing work and develop a more holistic, robust and evidence-based strategy to supporting these vulnerable children.Children transferred to the UK were assessed on arrival by Home Office officials who are trained to identify indicators of human trafficking and modern slavery. Under the Dublin Regulation, safeguarding checks are conducted ahead of the children being reunited with their relatives.The Government takes its responsibilities towards all vulnerable children extremely seriously. That is why when a child goes missing from care, agencies work closely with local authorities and local police forces in order to find them.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Scotland

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he took to fulfil his obligation to consult Scottish Ministers, under section 61 of the Scotland Act 2016, on the contents of the Contracts for Difference press announcements made on 9 November 2016.

Jesse Norman: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has certain obligations under section 61 of the Scotland Act 2016 to consult Scottish Ministers, as well as a statutory duty to consult Scottish Ministers before making regulatory changes under section 24 of the Energy Act 2013.However, the announcements made on 9 November did not fall within the scope of the obligation as they related to matters falling within stated exceptions to that obligation, or are subject to consultation now with Scottish Ministers. On 9 November 2016 the Department published further details of the strike prices for the second Contracts for Difference (CFD) Allocation Round:The budget (including lapse of the minima and application of a maxima, strike prices and the strike price methodology) is an exercise of a statutory power under the CFD scheme and not subject to any Parliamentary procedure and thus falls within the exception to consult in section 90C(2) Scotland Act 1998, as inserted by section 61 Scotland Act 2016: the strike price methodology used had already been agreed for the first CFD round and officials shared a number of technical details with Scottish Government officials ahead of the announcement;We announced a consultation on non-mainland GB onshore wind projects and will be actively seeking the views of Scottish Government as part of the consultation exercise; andWe further announced a call for evidence on fuelled technologies and again will be seeking the views of Scottish Government.

Manufacturing Industries: Trade Competitiveness

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to secure contingency funding for the continuation of compensation for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs for energy-intensive industries beyond April 2017.

Jesse Norman: We are engaging with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs.

Forestry: Employment

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on ensuring the Government's industrial strategy promotes employment opportunities in the forestry sector.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Industrial Strategy aims to create an economy that works for everyone – with a strong focus on delivering growth in all parts of the country and in all parts of the economy.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's report to Parliament on the proposed disposal of shares in the UK Green Investment Bank, Cm 9214, if he will make it his policy that the preferred bidder for the Government's shares in the UK Green Investment Bank will, as a condition of the sale, be required to give an undertaking to the Government to provide significant new capital annually to that Bank.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has set out its plans for the sale of the Green Investment Bank in the document “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016. The sale process is commercially confidential and Government will not disclose details of our engagement with bidders. The Government has committed to lay a report before Parliament on the sale of the Green Investment Bank, as soon as reasonably practicable after a disposal of shares has taken place, and this is also a requirement in the Enterprise Act 2016.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to ensure that all the recommendations made in the Second Report of the Environmental Audit Committee, Session 2015-16, HC 536, on the future of the Green Investment Bank are met before a sales agreement is signed with the preferred bidder for the Government's shares in that Bank.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has published its response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s report and recommendations, on 2 February 2016 (Cm 9201 “Government response to Environmental Audit Committee report ‘The Future of the Green Investment Bank’”).

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2016 to Question 54604, if he will make it his policy to publish any commitments made by the new owners of the UK Green Investment Bank to the green purposes of the Bank.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has committed to lay a report before Parliament on the sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB), as soon as reasonably practicable after a disposal of shares has taken place, and this is also a requirement in the Enterprise Act 2016. This report must include an assessment of how the Government’s objectives for the disposal have been achieved. This includes commitments on maintaining GIB’s green values, and the special share to protect GIB’s green purposes in the future.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2016 to Question 54041, if he will in due course publish the details of the sale value achieved for the Government's shares in the UK Green Investment Bank.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has committed to lay a report before Parliament on the sale of the Green Investment Bank, as soon as reasonably practicable after a disposal of shares has taken place, and this is also a requirement in the Enterprise Act 2016. This report must include an assessment of how the Government’s objectives for the disposal have been achieved, which includes the objective to secure value for money for the UK taxpayer.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to update Parliament on the proposed terms of any disposal of the Government's shares in the UK Green Investment Bank before such a sale is agreed.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has set out its plans for the sale of the Green Investment Bank in the document “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016. The sale process is commercially confidential and Government will not disclose details of our engagement with bidders. The Government has committed to lay a report before Parliament on the sale of the Green Investment Bank, as soon as reasonably practicable after a disposal of shares has taken place, and this is also a requirement in the Enterprise Act 2016.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the percentage gap in earnings is between the highest-paid and lowest-paid full-time employee in his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: The lowest paid full-time employee is paid approximately 11% of the salary of the highest paid employee.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the percentage gap in earnings is between the pay of full-time staff in the highest pay grade in his Department and average full-time pay in that Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: The average salary of a full time employee is approximately 21% of that of the highest paid.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Iranian government on the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ministers and officials have raised Mrs Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's detention repeatedly, at all levels, with the Iranian government. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), raised Mrs Zaghari- Ratcliffe's case with their Iranian counterparts during the UN General Assembly in September. The Prime Minister followed up her concerns in writing to President Rouhani on 3 October. I also met with the Iranian Ambassador and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, on 7 December, and we will continue to raise these cases with the Iranian Government at every available opportunity.

Cadmium: Pollution

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of the reduction in cadmium within phosphate fertilisers in the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council COM(2016)157/F1 for (a) the UK's dependence on Russia and (b) the stability of North African economies.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Government has made no such assessment. Due to uncertainty around the cost and the industrial processes to reduce cadmium content, it would be difficult to assess how the proposed limits on the concentration of cadmium in fertiliser will affect North and West African phosphate rock miners, and therefore also unclear to what extent UK and wider European industry will switch to Russian or other sources.

Uganda: Politics and Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Uganda on the recent arrest of King Charles Mumbere of Rwenzururu and violence in West Uganda.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Her Majesty's Government is concerned by the violence that occurred in Kasese district in Uganda in November 2016, which resulted in the reported deaths of over 100 civilians and members of the security forces. We have raised the matter with the Government of Uganda and the Uganda Human Rights Commission. We support the EU local statement of 16 December relating to these matters.We have urged the Government of Uganda to complete a timely and transparent investigation into these incidents, in accordance with due process, rule of law, international legal obligation and in line with the Commonwealth charter.I visited Uganda in August 2016 and have followed this case. We continue to believe that a human rights compliant approach is the most effective way to secure long-term peace and stability. The British High Commission work closely with the Government of Uganda, civil society and human rights defenders to ensure human rights are respected in the country. The UK made recommendations to Uganda at the Universal Periodic Review at the UN in November.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the safety of the residents of Aleppo who were evacuated from that city on 15 December 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK was active in the UN Security Council in the adoption of a Resolution on 19 December on humanitarian protection. Our top priority in Syria is the protection of civilians, especially in Aleppo, given the relentless siege there. On 15 December the Foreign Secretary summoned the Russian and Iranian ambassadors to make clear our profound concern about events in Aleppo and to urge them to allow full UN access to ensure civilian protection.

EU Institutions

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many premises in which locations the UK shares with EU institutions.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are currently co-located with the European External Action Service in four locations, Baghdad, Dar Es Salaam, Nouakchott and Colombo.

Zimbabwe: Bank Notes

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for economic stability in Zimbabwe of the government in that country issuing bank notes in its own currency equivalent to the US dollar.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Zimbabwe faces a serious economic crisis. Bond notes have provided some short term liquidity, but they are not a sustainable solution to Zimbabwe’s economic challenges. Without fundamental reform, taking into account the advice of the International Financial Institutions, an economic collapse is a real prospect. The British Embassy in Harare continues to monitor the situation and we are keeping our travel advice under review.

Ghana: Customs

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of the customs service in Ghana.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ghana's customs service falls under the responsibility of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with whom we share a good relationship.We support the World Bank's respected and influential annual Doing Business Survey, which reports on many of the key issues that businesses face in countries across the world. One important indicator that the report examines relates to trading across borders. The effectiveness of a country's customs procedures are highly relevant to this indicator. For Ghana, the 2016 survey indicated a small improvement in the country's relative ranking for trading across borders. However, burdensome procedures and corruption at borders are among the most problematic factors for trade in Ghana. Customs procedures lack efficiency and exporting and importing require time-consuming paperwork to clear goods at the border. Corruption and bribery in these processes are widespread. A recent report by US based GAN Integrity found that whilst Ghana performs best in the West African region for road governance in relation to customs services, controls and demands for bribes are increasing at the Tema port exit.We continue to follow these matters closely and regularly raise concerns about the ease of doing business including corruption with the Government of Ghana.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure evacuation routes remain available for civilian use in Aleppo.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government is following closely developments as eastern Aleppo is evacuated. We supported UN Security Council Resolution 2328, adopted on 19 December, which asks the UN to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo. We will maintain pressure for this resolution to be implemented and for the evacuation of all those who wish to leave to continue.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the number of civilians remaining in  Aleppo.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​Last week the UN estimated that there were 40,000 civilians remaining in eastern Aleppo. Since then thousands have been evacuated, but there are still many civilians awaiting evacuation. The situation remains fluid and numbers of those remaining and being evacuated are changing each day. The UK has called for the safe evacuation of all those civilians who wish to leave. On 19 December with partners, we successfully secured the adoption of a UN Security Council Resolution which demands full access for the UN across Syria and in particular requests the UN to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo. All parties must now comply fully with this Resolution. It is crucial that the UN oversees these evacuations to ensure civilian protection.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on evacuation corridors in Aleppo being blocked.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is following closely developments as eastern Aleppo is evacuated. There have been many obstacles to the evacuation process and pauses once the process started. People are now being evacuated and the UK will continue to press for this process to continue safely and under the coordination of the UN.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of evacuation routes for civilians leaving eastern Aleppo.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The regime has only opened one evacuation route through the Ramouseh corridor in regime controlled south west Aleppo and has restricted the involvement of impartial humanitarian actors in the process. We are extremely concerned at the way the regime and its backers have been conducting themselves in the areas where it has retaken control. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported the summary execution of 82 people, including women and children; there have also been reports of people disappearing as they reach regime held areas; and of young men being forced to join the Syrian army. That is why we supported UN Security Council Resolution 2328 which was passed on 19 December. It demands full access for the UN across Syria and in particular requests the UN to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo. We will maintain pressure for this resolution to be implemented and for UN monitors to have completely unfettered access.

Attorney General

Election Offences: Tower Hamlets

Sir Eric Pickles: To ask the Attorney General, whether the Law Officers are able to review or challenge a decision of the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service not to follow-up the court judgment of April 2015 on election offences in Tower Hamlets with criminal prosecutions; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The police are operationally independent and ministerial responsibility lies with the Home Office. I do not have oversight of their work. I am accountable to Parliament for the work of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). It too operates independently of government. If the police approach the CPS for a decision as to whether an individual should be charged with any offence they will consider firstly whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest. In this case the police did not ask the CPS for a charging decision although the CPS has given investigatory advice. There is a protocol which governs the relationship between the Attorney General and the CPS https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/15197/Protocol_between_the_Attorney_General_and_the_Prosecuting_Departments.pdf. Paragraph 4c makes clear that the Law Officers will not be consulted about prosecution decisions in cases relating to political parties or the conduct of elections.

Criminal Proceedings: Prosecutions

Sir Eric Pickles: To ask the Attorney General, what processes there are by which (a) local residents, (b) victims of crime and (c) others can challenge a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute a criminal case; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Victims of crime can challenge a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decision not to prosecute their case, under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme. A local resident may be eligible if the individual comes within the scheme’s definition of ‘victim’. Further guidance about the VRR scheme can be found here: http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/victims_right_to_review/index.html The CPS also operates both Feedback and Complaints schemes to deal with concerns about legal decisions which do not fall within the scope of the VRR scheme.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Females

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what use her Department makes of social norms approaches within its programmes to increase women's economic empowerment and political participation; and if she will make a statement.

James Wharton: Negative social and cultural expectations lead to discrimination against women and girls, and can severely limit their ability to participate fully in politics and in the economy. DFID is committed to tackling this discrimination in our strategy to empower women and girls, and in our recently published Bilateral and Multilateral Development reviews.

Department for International Development: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials of her Department work full-time on the Violence Against Women and Girls helpdesk; and if she will make a statement.

James Wharton: The UK is one of the only countries in the world with a dedicated team working on tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG); we currently have 6.5 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) staff working on this policy area.The VAWG helpdesk provides advice for teams across government on programmes and projects preventing violence against women and girls. The helpdesk is managed by the VAWG team in DFID’s Policy Division.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the use of aid bridges to deliver aid to civilians in Syria.

James Wharton: We continue to look at all options, compliant with international law, to alleviate the suffering of millions of Syrians. A pre-requisite for successful aid bridges is consent from all parties controlling the air space. The Assad regime and Russia have systematically denied humanitarian access to besieged populations by land and have refused consent for air bridges of supplies to opposition-held besieged areas.

Ministry of Justice

Pre-sentence Reports

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of whether the five-day turnaround for pre-sentence allows sufficient time for safeguarding checks to be carried out.

Dr Phillip Lee: When preparing a pre-sentence report, the report author must initiate safeguarding checks regarding children and vulnerable adults at risk at the earliest opportunityThe duty under the Children’s Act 2004 on all relevant agencies to make arrangements to ensure they discharge their functions in regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children does not end with an initial check and assessment at pre-sentence stage. Assessments begin at the pre-sentence report stage and continue through to the end of sentence.

Coroners: Suicide

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to make changes to rules requiring coroners recording a suicide to meet the same criminal standard of proof as unlawful killing rather than the civil standard.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government has no current plans to amend the law on the burden of proof for returning a conclusion of suicide at an inquest but it will keep the matter under review.

Bail Hostels

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders absconded from bail hostels in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The numbers of recalls of offenders for absconding from Approved Premises between 2010/11 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below.  EnglandWales2010/111153452011/12986272012/13911412013/14836312014/15753332015/166628842127  Public protection is our top priority. When an abscond takes place, the offender is recalled, and the Police are notified and are responsible for locating the offender. We take any breach of licence conditions extremely seriously and offenders who abscond can be sent back to prison.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The numbers of recalls of offenders for absconding from Approved Premises between 2010/11 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below.  EnglandWales2010/111153452011/12986272012/13911412013/14836312014/15753332015/166628842127  Public protection is our top priority. When an abscond takes place, the offender is recalled, and the Police are notified and are responsible for locating the offender. We take any breach of licence conditions extremely seriously and offenders who abscond can be sent back to prison.

Bail Hostels

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders housed in bail hostels have been taken back into custody as a result of notification from bail hostel staff to police in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The National Offender Management Service records offenders who have been returned to custody from Approved Premises under seven categories: absconding, breaches of the Approved Premises Rules, positive drugs tests, increasing risk, breaches of licence conditions, breaches of curfew restrictions, and other reasons. All recalls to custody involve the police, since only they have the legal power to return offenders to custody. The numbers of recalls for any of these reasons between 2011/12 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below. These include figures for breach of curfew and absconding, as provided in answer to questions 49931 and 49987 respectively. EnglandWales2010/1124451062011/1224131152012/1323391122013/1423461092014/1524671152015/1621252807110143

Mr Sam Gyimah: The National Offender Management Service records offenders who have been returned to custody from Approved Premises under seven categories: absconding, breaches of the Approved Premises Rules, positive drugs tests, increasing risk, breaches of licence conditions, breaches of curfew restrictions, and other reasons. All recalls to custody involve the police, since only they have the legal power to return offenders to custody. The numbers of recalls for any of these reasons between 2011/12 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below. These include figures for breach of curfew and absconding, as provided in answer to questions 49931 and 49987 respectively. EnglandWales2010/1124451062011/1224131152012/1323391122013/1423461092014/1524671152015/1621252807110143

Bail Hostels

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been in breach of curfew conditions at bail hostels in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The National Offender Management Service records only those breaches of curfew restrictions from Probation Approved Premises where offenders are recalled to custody as a result. Curfew breaches, while important, do not necessarily lead to recall. For example, an offender may be only a few minutes late, or may have been unable to return for reasons outside his or her control. In such cases other action may be appropriate instead. 97% of Approved Premises residents complete their time at the Approved Premises without breaching their curfew. The numbers of recalls for breach of curfew between 2011/12 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below. Curfew was not recorded separately from other recall reasons in 2010/11. EnglandWales2011/1220522012/1321112013/1423002014/1524022015/162342921116 Public protection is our top priority. When an abscond takes place, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. We take any breach of licence conditions extremely seriously and offenders who abscond can be sent back to prison.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The National Offender Management Service records only those breaches of curfew restrictions from Probation Approved Premises where offenders are recalled to custody as a result. Curfew breaches, while important, do not necessarily lead to recall. For example, an offender may be only a few minutes late, or may have been unable to return for reasons outside his or her control. In such cases other action may be appropriate instead. 97% of Approved Premises residents complete their time at the Approved Premises without breaching their curfew. The numbers of recalls for breach of curfew between 2011/12 and 2015/16, in England and in Wales, are set out below. Curfew was not recorded separately from other recall reasons in 2010/11. EnglandWales2011/1220522012/1321112013/1423002014/1524022015/162342921116 Public protection is our top priority. When an abscond takes place, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. We take any breach of licence conditions extremely seriously and offenders who abscond can be sent back to prison.

Sexual Offences: Counselling

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving the availability in courts of counsellors and psychiatrists to help victims of sexual offences.

Dr Phillip Lee: The government is committed to supporting all vulnerable victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Criminal justice and support for victims are a matter for devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Scotland.The government is also committed to ensuring that victims of sexual offences receive the support that they need. This includes funding for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors, who do not have to be qualified counsellors or psychiatrists, but who can accompany victims through the court process, as a supporter. The Ministry of Justice also provides funding to 86 female rape support centres across England and Wales providing independent, specialist support to female victims of both recent and historic sexual violence including Child Sexual Abuse, as well as funding for 12 male rape support centres, a support website and a pilot national helpline for male victims of rape and sexual abuse.

Offences against Children

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to issue a commencement order for the provisions in the Serious Crime Act 2015 relating to sexual communications with a child.

Sir Oliver Heald: Sexual communication with a child is abhorrent, which is why the government legislated to make it a specific offence. We remain committed to commencing this law as soon as possible.

Cremation: Babies

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will publish all correspondence her and her predecessor had with (a) Hull City Council, (b) the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North and (c) constituent Tina Trowhill on baby ashes and cremation working practices.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department holds a record of the meeting held by the then Secretary of State for Justice with the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North and constituent Tina Trowhill on 22 February 2016 on baby ashes and cremation working practices.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether a civil servant was in attendance at the meeting held by the then Secretary of State for Justice with the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North and constituent Tina Trowhill on 22 February 2016 on baby ashes and cremation working practices.

Dr Phillip Lee: It is not our practice to publish ministerial correspondence.The Ministry of Justice has a note of the meeting of 22 February 2016 when the then Justice Secretary met the Honourable Member and your constituent Tina Trowhill to discuss baby ashes and cremation practices. A civil servant attended the meeting.The Government has made clear that historic infant cremation practices must never be repeated. That is why we took decisive action, following a well-received consultation, to introduce a statutory definition of ashes and modernise crematoria processes. Other work is in hand.Hull City Council has decided against a local investigation, and has made substantial improvements to cremation processes.

Ministry of Justice: Staff

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans her Department has to include worker representation on its departmental board.

Dr Phillip Lee: The MoJ Board membership is in the line with guidance issued from the Cabinet Office, which outlines that Departmental Boards should, as a minimum, include Non-Executive Board Members, Ministers and Senior Civil Servants (including the Permanent Secretary).In order to make Board discussions and meetings as effective as possible, a range of additional attendees may be invited on occasion to ensure robust scrutiny and a wider range advice is considered.The membership will be guided by the Cabinet Office in order to keep a consistent approach with the rest of the departments.

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2016 to Question 51526, what her planned timetable is for implementation of the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements of ratification for the Istanbul Convention.

Dr Phillip Lee: I refer the honourable member to the Answer of 8 November 2016 to Question 51526.

Brixton Prison

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has for the future of HM Prison Brixton.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to (a) privatise and (b) increase the private involvement in the running of HM Prison Brixton.

Dr Phillip Lee: We are investing £1.3 billion to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation. We will build new prisons and close prisons that are in poor condition and those which do not have a long-term future in the estate. We will also simplify the organisation of the estate so prisoners are placed at the right level of security in prisons with appropriately tailored regimes. This will ensure that the supply of places providing rehabilitation and resettlement services, and those that serve the courts, are balanced with demand. We want to make sure that our prisons are run in the most effective way to achieve our reforms. We are currently considering how best to reorganise the prison estate as a whole to achieve this goal, and will announce our plans in due course.

Small Claims

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions the Government has had with representatives of the insurance industry on (a) raising the small claims limit and (b) reforming whiplash compensation.

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that potential savings arising from raising the small claims limits for (a) public and (b) employer liability will be passed on to customers.

Dr Phillip Lee: A consultation paper and impact assessment setting out the case for reform were published on 17 November and are available on gov.uk. Since the publication of the consultation Ministers and officials have met to discuss the proposed reforms with a range of interested parties from across the sector, including representatives from the insurance industry, claimant lawyers, defendant lawyers and credit hire companies. The government has made clear it expects savings from its reform package to be passed on to policy holders and will monitor the industry’s reaction closely. The consultation closes on 6 January.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Travel

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on travel that was not standard class in each of the last five years.

Matt Hancock: Over the last 3 years the Department, and its predecessors, spent the following amounts on non-standard class travel: 2013/142014/152015/16£57,900.30£61,605.77£25,283.42Overall Total: £144,803.73 Total figures for 2011/12 and 2012/13 are not held centrally and to obtain them would incur a disproportionate cost.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Horizon 2020

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Treasury Committee on 12 December 2016, in response to Q311, who in her Department is responsible for assessing whether grant applications for Horizon 2020 funding are (a) value for money and (b) in line with Government objectives.

Matt Hancock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my rt. hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury today to Question UIN 57694.

Mobile Broadband: Rural Areas

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what competition measures will be promoted in the forthcoming auction of 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz spectrum in order to secure improved mobile coverage in rural areas.

Matt Hancock: Ofcom with conduct all forthcoming spectrum auctions in line with their published competition objectives, which can be found here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2016/ofcom-outlines-rules-for-mobile-spectrum-auction.

Museums and Galleries

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many museums she has visited in an official capacity since her appointment.

Matt Hancock: 14.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Disability

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of disabled people were in employment in each year since 2009-10 by NUTS 1 region.

Penny Mordaunt: From 2013-14 to 2015-16 we have seen 400,000 more disabled people in employment in the UK (see points 1 to 3 in the notes section). Over the same time we have seen the overall employment rate for disabled people increase by around 3 percentage points, where it now stands at 47 per cent. The table below shows the proportion of working age disabled people in employment by NUTS 1 region between 2010-11 and 2015-16. Please note that data is not available for 2009/10. In addition, due to changes to the definition of disability that were made in 2013, data for 2013-14 onwards cannot be compared with previous years. The majority of the regions saw increases in their disability employment rate broadly in line with that of the UK as a whole over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16. Similarly, the number of disabled people in employment increased in every region over the period. Though due to small sample sizes in the survey used, the observed trends may not indicate statistically significant changes. Table - The proportion of working age disabled people in employment in April to March of each year by NUTS 1 region from 2010-11 to 2015-16. 2010 -11 (%)2011 -12 (%)2012-13 (%) 2013-14 (%)2014-15 (%)2015-16 (%)North East40.138.039.5Figures pre 2013/14 should not be compared with figures from 2013/14 onwards38.641.240.6North West41.341.341.839.240.043.4Yorkshire and Humberside43.743.145.643.443.646.2East Midlands49.848.148.046.748.150.6West Midlands42.141.144.241.943.343.7Eastern53.152.153.751.655.352.0London43.840.844.743.547.448.7South East53.952.552.552.854.455.4South West50.551.150.751.054.854.9Wales39.940.242.041.642.343.3Scotland44.343.942.839.742.041.8Northern Ireland27.228.029.033.633.431.4United Kingdom45.544.645.8 44.446.447.3 Source: Annual Population Survey, April to March 2010-11 to 2015– 16.Notes:Note that these figures are based on the Annual Population Survey and differ to the labour market status of disabled people figures available at the link below:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08 which are based on the quarterly Labour Force Survey (LFS).The latest quarterly LFS figures for Q3 2016 show that the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost 600,000 since Q2 2013; currently over 3.4 million disabled people are in employment. The employment rate of disabled people has increased by around 5 percentage points over the last three years and now stands at 48%.The APS was used to provide a larger sample size to give regional breakdowns.New analysis was carried out to produce data for 2012-13 and 2013-14. The other data is publicly available from NOMIS.Due to changes in disability definition data for 2013-14 onwards should not be compared to data from previous years.The GSS harmonised definition of disability is used for data for 2013-14 onwards. This is in line with the Equality Act definition of disability. Pre 2013-14 the Disability Discrimination Act definition of disability is used.Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1 percentage point.Data is subject to sampling variation.Precision of statistics is limited by small sample sizes.Figures are for the working age population, comprised of people aged 16 to 64.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment assessments for Scottish claimants there were in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Penny Mordaunt: The numbers of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) initial work capability assessments (WCAs) still in progress in Scotland in the last four quarters for which information is available are as follows: Quarter Total In ProgressEnding 29 February 201636,900Ending 31 May 201654,800Ending 31 August 201659,600Ending 30 November 201664,800Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the healthcare provider. Outstanding WCA referrals in Scotland reduced between March 2015 (the start of CHDA contract) and December 2015 with the subsequent increase in outstanding referrals being in part due to the reintroduction of re-referrals from December 2015. The numbers of Personal Independence Payment cases still in progress with the assessment provider in Scotland in the last four quarters for which information is available are as follows: Quarter Total In ProgressEnding 31 January 201613,200Ending 30 April 201612,100Ending 31 July 20168,100Ending 31 October 20166,600Source: Data taken from the PIP computer system’s management information

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were carried out by a qualified doctor in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Penny Mordaunt: All healthcare professionals undertaking assessments on behalf of the Department are registered practitioners (occupational therapists, nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and paramedics) who have met requirements around training, post-qualification experience and competence. The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) face to face assessments completed by healthcare professionals in Scotland was: Quarter Total Assessments By Doctors December 2015 to February 201613,2422,051 (15.48%)March 2016 to May 201614,2992,064 (14.43%)June 2016 to August 201615,4792,039 (13.17%)September 2016 to November 201616,3972,539 (15.48%)(Source: Data provided by CHDA) None of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments in Scotland were completed by a qualified doctor. The Department does not require or specify that PIP assessments are carried out by doctors.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Horizon 2020

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Treasury Committee on 12 December 2016, in response to Q311, who in her Department is responsible for assessing whether grant applications for Horizon 2020 funding are (a) value for money and (b) in line with Government objectives.

George Eustice: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my Rt Hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 December 2016 to PQ UIN 57694.

Bottles: Recycling

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bottle deposit schemes as a means to achieve cleaner beaches.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra analysed the costs and benefits of implementing a deposit return system (DRS) for single-use drink containers as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England. We also sought views in the 2012 consultation on higher packaging recycling targets. This work showed that introducing a DRS may increase recycling and reduce litter but might impose additional costs on businesses, consumers and local authorities (which would lose revenue from recycling). However, we lack evidence to quantify these benefits and costs appropriately. Last year, the Scottish Government published a feasibility study and a call for evidence investigating the implementation of a DRS for single-use drink containers in Scotland. This valuable work highlighted significant uncertainties about the impacts and benefits a DRS would have, notably regarding costs, environmental quality and littering and existing waste collection systems. We will review any further evidence on DRS. We will continue to focus on improving existing waste collection and recycling systems. We are also developing a new Litter Strategy for England to help coordinate and maximise the impact of anti-litter activity by local government, industry and others.

Dogs: Smuggling

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for ensuring that intelligence on illegal puppy importations is shared between (a) Euro Tunnel, (b) ferry operators and (c) other carriers and relevant enforcement agencies.

George Eustice: Sharing intelligence across government and with those organisations transporting pet animals is one of the most important ways of identifying illegal puppy importation. A central intelligence unit has been established within the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). One of the unit’s roles is to review available data and intelligence and ensure it can be shared appropriately with enforcement agencies, animal welfare charities and carriers. An operational group comprising government enforcement agencies, animal welfare charities and relevant carriers has been set up to support the unit. The role of this group is to identify data and intelligence that can be used to uncover illegality, threats, trends and concerns surrounding puppy importation.

Members: Correspondence

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to reply to the letter of 21 November 2016 from the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West on Monument Park, Pattinson Road, Waste Site Cluster.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I replied to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland on 20 December 2016.

Dogs: Smuggling

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will assess the potential merits of moving enforcement responsibilities from carriers to Government agencies in order better to tackle the illegal importation of puppies by way of the pet travel scheme.

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it a requirement for animal health resources to be available at UK borders accurately to age dogs as required.

George Eustice: Defra takes the issue of the illegal importation of puppies and abuse of the pet travel scheme seriously. All pet animals entering Great Britain on approved routes under European Union Pet Travel Scheme are subject to documentary and identity checks. These are performed by carrier’s staff or checkers acting on their behalf. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) train and appoint carriers and pet animal checkers. APHA also undertake random audits. Audits carried out in 2015 identified only 1.3% of the animals checked to be non-compliant with pet travel rules. APHA work closely with carriers and pet animal checkers to address any issues identified and provide additional training as required. We have no current plans to amend the arrangements for checking pet animals at the border. Defra is currently reviewing the operation of the Pet Travel Scheme in England and review includes the pet checking and carrier approval process. As part of the review the Department held a public consultation during the autumn of 2016. We are currently analysing the feedback from the consultation which will be published as part of the overall review in 2017. Since December 2015 APHA Port of Dover staff have been working in partnership with the Dogs Trust to identify, seize and quarantine underage puppies illegally transported into the country.

Rabies

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will consider reintroducing the requirement for rabies titration tests and post-rabies antibody titration test wait periods at the border.

George Eustice: Defra takes the threat to public and animal health posed by animals entering the United Kingdom seriously and requires appropriate rabies vaccination for pet animals entering the country. Travel between EU Member States and from some lower risk countries requires a rabies vaccination followed by a 21 day waiting period. For countries with higher rabies risk stricter rules apply involving a rabies titration test and waiting period. A quantitative risk assessment was carried out by rabies experts in 2011. They judged the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the EU pet travel rules as very low. Defra has no plans to amend the rabies controls for pet animals entering the United Kingdom but continues to monitor the disease situation and will undertake a further, formal risk assessment if the evidence indicates that one is warranted.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what flood risk assessment she has received from the water telecommunications industries since the publication of the national Flood Resilience Review in September 2016; how many key local infrastructure assets have been identified by those industries as vulnerable to flooding; and how many such assets have had temporary improvements made to increase their resilience to flooding.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the 530 key local infrastructure assets identified by her Department as vulnerable to flooding in circumstances envisaged by the Environment Agency's Extreme Flood Outlines have had improvements made to their flood defences since the publication of the National Flood Resilience Review in September 2016.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what each key local infrastructure asset identified in the National Flood Resilience Review as being vulnerable to flooding in circumstances envisaged by the Environment Agency's Extreme Flood Agency's Outlines is.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Good progress is being made on the implementation of the National Flood Resilience Review recommendations. All infrastructure companies have completed their initial assessments of their vulnerable sites for suitability for temporary flood defences and as a result companies are investing heavily in resilience measures to ensure continuity of supply this winter. This includes putting in place or having deployment plans for temporary defences, and other contingency measures such as rezoning of water supplies and the use of mobile telecommunications cells to reduce the risk of disruption of services. Further to this, the Government is working with utility companies to improve permanent defences in the longer term.

Government Departments: Food

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Departments have adopted the Government buying standards for food catering services since 18 August 2016.

George Eustice: The Government Buying Standard for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) was initially published in 2011 and is mandated for procurement of food and catering services by all central government Departments as part of the Crown Commercial Service Facilities Management framework. This Government has also committed to implement in central departments the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach as set out in the Plan for Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services published in July 2014. Defra officials are working with leads in other Departments to raise awareness and understanding, and ensure uptake in forthcoming contract renewals.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 3.5 of Autumn Statement 2016, how many affordable homes to rent will be built in each year from 2017 to 2020; and how many of those homes will be built with a central government grant.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 30 November 2016



The additional £1.4 billion investment in the Affordable Homes Programme will deliver an estimated additional 40,000 affordable housing starts by 2020/21, increasing the overall capital budget to £7.1 billion up to 2021 to deliver an estimated 225,000 affordable homes.The flexible programme will fund a mix of affordable housing including affordable homes for rent and low cost home ownership. The actual split of tenures will depend on bids received, based on the assessment of local needs and local housing markets. All homes provided under the programme will be part-funded by a central government grant; this is in addition to other affordable homes delivered without grant and those delivered with Right to Buy receipts.

Affordable Housing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the extra £1.4 billion announced in the Autumn Statement 2016 for affordable homes will be available to provide (a) social housing and (b) affordable homes to rent; and how many extra homes in each such category he estimates that extra investment will provide by 2020.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 06 December 2016



The additional £1.4 billion investment in the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21 will provide a further estimated 40,000 social homes by March 2021. The investment, as part of the wider flexible programme, will provide a mix of affordable housing including affordable homes for rent and low cost home ownership. The actual split of tenures will depend on bids received, based on the assessment of local needs and local housing markets.

Nurseries: Non-domestic Rates

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2016 to Question 49076, if he will publish the amount that the Government has paid to each local authority in England to offer business rates reductions for childcare providers.

Mr Marcus Jones: Under the business rates retention system, where a local authority uses its discretionary powers to grant business rates discounts the resulting loss of business rates income is effectively shared equally between the local authority and the Government. The Government does not collect data on particular types of premises that have benefited from local discretionary relief.

Hedges and Ditches

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Matters Relating to High Hedges: notes to local authorities, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2008, page 5, when the five-year review of high hedges legislation was carried out.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Matters Relating to High Hedges: notes to local authorities, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2008, page 5, what the conclusions were of the review of high hedges legislation.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the operation of the amended high hedges legislation in Scotland which includes deciduous trees.

Gavin Barwell: My Department has no plans to review existing high hedges legislation. Local authorities are best-placed to resolve private disputes about tall evergreen hedges and loss of light and visual amenity to neighbouring homes and gardens.

Neighbourhood Development Plans: West Midlands

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Housing and Planning of 13 December 2016, Official Report, column 733, on the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, what steps he has taken to ask Birmingham City Council to consult the Royal Sutton Coldfield town council on the measures included in the Birmingham City Council Development Plan 2031.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 20 December 2016



Local planning authorities are required to prepare and comply with a Statement of Community Involvement throughout the preparation of a local plan. For Birmingham Development Plan this included consulting with resident associations and neighbourhood forums, parish councils and the general public, in addition to a list of other relevant consultees at the required stages to inform the production of a draft plan, to seek representations on that plan prior to it being submitted for independent examination and on modifications to the plan proposed during examination. Local groups and representatives also provided evidence to the Inspector as part of the examination process. The Inspector examining the Birmingham Development Plan confirmed that the council undertook widespread consultation and that the consultations met all the relevant legal requirements, including compliance with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement. Notwithstanding this, I have written to Birmingham City Council to make them aware of the matters you have raised.

Department of Health

NHS: Buildings

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received a draft of the report from Sir Robert Naylor on the NHS estate; and when he plans to publish the final report.

Mr Philip Dunne: Sir Robert Naylor is currently finalising his report which is expected to be published early in 2017.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Ambulance Services

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with National Ambulance Service medical directors on ensuring that the best practice system of flagging people with muscle-wasting conditions to ambulance crews in London, North West and North East Ambulance Services is used across all ambulance services.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has not had any recent discussions with National Ambulance Service Medical Directors on this subject. NHS England has advised that it is working with all ambulance services in England to ensure the right resource is allocated to the right 999 call at the right time. Currently the flagging of patients with long term conditions or longer term care needs is not used universally. However the development of technology to allow real-time searching of the National Health Service number as a unique patient identifier will significantly increase the value of placing ‘flags’ on patients with specific clinical needs. This will then reliably allow any attending healthcare professional to access care plans and special patient notes to help inform individual patient management. This is a component of the 2017/19 ambulance service national Commissioning Quality and Innovation framework.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Shropshire

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the potential effect on (a) staffing, (b) administrative and (c) other costs of replacing Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Telford and the Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group with a single clinical commissioning group.

David Mowat: Decisions on clinical commissioning group (CCG) mergers are a matter for NHS England and the CCGs concerned. As such, the Department will make no estimate of the effect of merging Shropshire CCG and Telford and Wrekin CCG. NHS England advises that there are no plans at this stage to merge the two CCGs.